appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Stella Lee

When Stephen Fung Kin-man quit school at the age of 16 to undertake training as a police cadet in 1973, he never dreamed that he would climb to the rank of chief superintendent 30 years later.

Speaking ahead of tomorrow's  release of the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination results, Mr Fung - now the head of the force's Organised Crime and Triad Bureau - encouraged students disappointed by their scores not to give up.

'Examinations are just one part of your life. While academic results may form the foundation of your job, it's more important for one to try hard at work,' said Mr Fung, who quit school after completing Form Four.

'If your results are undesirable, it doesn't mean anything. There are many different chances in Hong Kong.'

Mr Fung said that his interest in police work was what led him to join the now-defunct police cadet training school, which provided a one-year training course for young people.

After completing the training, Mr Fung decided to take another six-month course at the Police Training School which qualified him to join the force.

With a salary of just $1,000 a month, he began his first day of work after graduation on beat patrol in Tsim Sha Tsui in 1974.

'When I was on my first day of work, I never thought that I would one day become a chief superintendent,' he said.

'Like many young people, I had just thought about what my jobs would be over the next two years.'

Twenty-nine years later, Mr Fung is the most senior officer in the force among his fellow 1973 graduates from the cadet training school.

But Mr Fung's smooth career trajectory has not been based on sheer luck alone.

He said he had undertaken numerous extra courses to broaden his knowledge and strengthen his professionalism over the past decades.

He encouraged young people to seize every opportunity to improve themselves and never give up in the face of problems.

'Everyone will encounter problems, whether it's at work or study. An important element of life is to face the problems and resolve them,' Mr Fung said.



Police chief says hard work, not exams, got him to the top